Information Process Apparatus and Method, Program Record Medium, and Program

ABSTRACT

To smoothly reproduce data. A clip generation section  104  generates a clip information file that describes attribute information of each piece of essence data that are necessary to reproduce each piece of essence data generated by a data generation section  103  according to parameter information supplied from an information obtainment section  102 . An index file update section  105  generates in an index file read from an optical disc  17  and stored in a RAM a clip element that describes attribute information of a clip necessary to reproduce the clip according to the parameter information supplied from the information obtainment section  102  and updates the index file. The present invention can be applied to a video program creation support system.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information process apparatus andmethod, a program record medium, and a program, in particular, to aninformation process apparatus and method, a program record medium, and aprogram that allow data to be smoothly reproduced.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, with decreases of the prices of record mediums such asCD-RW (Compact Disc-ReWritable) and DVD-RW (Digital VersatileDisc-ReWritable) that allow data to be repeatedly written and erased,they have been widespread.

On these disc-shaped-record mediums, predetermined data can be randomlyaccessed. Video data and audio data can be written as contents on theserecord mediums and contents can be erased therefrom. Information of manycontents written to record mediums is totally managed with a contentmanagement file or the like.

With a content management table, attribute information composed of forexample pointers that represent the recorded positions of contents,recorded date and time, changed date and time, protect information,thumbnails (images) of the contents, and text information such as titlenames of the contents are managed.

Thus, when a content is reproduced from a record medium, data of acontent are accessed according to the position of the pointer to“content” of the content management table. Reproduction information (forexample, the type of codec of data that composes the content, theresolution of data, and so forth) with which the content is reproducedfrom whole or a part of data is obtained from the data of the content.According to the obtained reproduction information, data are reproduced.

However, when reproduction information with which a content isreproduced is obtained from data, it takes a time to obtain thereproduction information for example it takes a time to interpret thedata. Thus, data of a content to be reproduced may not be reproduced atthe reproduction time.

When all contents recorded on the record medium are successively andsmoothly reproduced, after data are reproduced from a particularposition, it is necessary to obtain reproduction information from thenext data recorded in an area apart from the particular position. Inthis case, when the reproduction target that the reproduction apparatusreproduces is moved from a particular area to the other area, a seekwill take place.

When the seek time necessary to perform the seek is long, since not onlythe seek time, but time for obtaining the reproduction time from thedata is required, data of a content to be reproduced next cannot be readat the reproduction time. Thus, the reproduction will stops. In otherwords, it was difficult to continuously and smoothly reproduce data of aplurality of contents.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is made from the foregoing of point of view and tosmoothly reproduce data.

An information process apparatus according to the present inventioncomprises information obtainment means for obtaining reproductioninformation necessary to reproduce the data when the data are recorded;generation means for generating a first management file with which thedata are managed for each piece thereof, the first management filedescribing the reproduction information obtained by the informationobtainment means and an identifier that uniquely identifies the data;and registration means for registering management information of thedata composed of the reproduction information obtained by theinformation obtainment means, the identifier of the data, andinformation that represents the recorded position of the data to asecond management file with which the data recorded on the record mediumare totally managed.

The registration means adds the management information of the data tothe last end of the second management file.

The information process apparatus further comprises reproduction meansfor reproducing the data according to the first management file or thesecond management file.

The information process apparatus further comprises successivereproduction means for successively reproducing all the data recorded onthe record medium according to the first management file or the secondmanagement file.

An information process method according to the present inventioncomprising the steps of obtaining reproduction information necessary toreproduce the data when the data are recorded generating a firstmanagement file with which the data are managed for each piece thereof,the first management file describing the reproduction informationobtained by a process of information obtainment step and an identifierthat uniquely identifies the data; and registering managementinformation of the data composed of the reproduction informationobtained by the process of the information obtainment step, theidentifier of the data, and information that represents the recordedposition of the data to a second management file with which the datarecorded on the record medium are totally managed.

A program record medium on which a program is recorded according to thepresent invention, the program comprising the steps of obtainingreproduction information necessary to reproduce the data when the dataare recorded; generating a first management file with which the data aremanaged for each piece thereof, the first management file describing thereproduction information obtained by a process of information obtainmentstep and an identifier that uniquely identifies the data; andregistering management information of the data composed of thereproduction information obtained by the process of the informationobtainment step, the identifier of the data, and information thatrepresents the recorded position of the data to a second management filewith which the data recorded on the record medium are totally managed.

A program according to the present invention comprises the steps ofobtaining reproduction information necessary to reproduce the data whenthe data are recorded; generating a first management file with which thedata are managed for each piece thereof, the first management filedescribing the reproduction information obtained by a process ofinformation obtainment step and an identifier that uniquely identifiesthe data; and registering management information of the data composed ofthe reproduction information obtained by the process of the informationobtainment step, the identifier of the data, and information thatrepresents the recorded position of the data to a second management filewith which the data recorded on the record medium are totally managed.

According to the present invention, reproduction information necessaryto reproduce the data is obtained when the data are recorded. A firstmanagement file with which the data are managed for each piece thereofis generated. The first management file describes the obtainedreproduction information and an identifier that uniquely identifies thedata. Management information of the data composed of the obtainedreproduction information, the identifier of the data, and informationthat represents the recoded position of the data is registered to asecond management file with which the data recorded on the record mediumare totally managed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of avideo program creation support system according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of aphotographing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of arecord control section shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of areproduction control section shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of afile system of an optical disc shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of aclip directory shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of anedit list directory shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of anindex file shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a clip table shownin line 5 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a clip element ofclip ID [“C0001”] shown in line 2 to line 5 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an edit list tableshown in line 6 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an edit listelement of edit list ID [“E0001”] shown in line 2 to line 5 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a code of a clipinformation file shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a code of a clipinformation file shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart describing a read process for an index file ofthe photographing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart describing a clip generation process of thephotographing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart describing an index file update process at stepS29 shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart describing a clip reproduction process of thephotographing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart describing another example of the clipreproduction process of the photographing device shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 20 is a flow chart describing a tape reproduction process of thephotographing device shown in FIG. 1.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Therelationship between the structural elements described in the claims andthe embodiments of the present patent application is as follows. Thisrelationship represents that examples that support the claims of thepresent patent application are described in the embodiments of thepresent patent application. Thus, even if examples corresponding to theembodiments are not described in this section, the examples should notbe construed as those that do not correspond to the structural elementsof the claims of the present patent application. In contrast, even ifexamples are described in this section as those that correspond to thestructural elements of the claims, the examples should not be construedas those that do not correspond to other than the structural elements ofthe claims of the present patent application.

In addition, the description of this section does not mean that allaspects of the present invention that correspond to the examplesdescribed in the embodiments of the present patent application are notdescribed in the claims of the present patent application. In otherwords, this description does not deny the possibility of which there areaspects of the present invention that are described in the embodimentsbut not described in the claims of the present patent application,namely aspects of the present invention that may be filed as divisionalpatent application(s) or aspects of the present invention that may beadded as amendments.

An information process apparatus of claim 1 is an information processapparatus (for example a photographing device 14 shown in FIG. 1) thatmanages data (for example, a clip), recorded on a record medium (forexample, an optical disc 17 shown in FIG. 17), comprising informationobtainment means (for example, an information obtainment section 102shown in FIG. 3) for obtaining reproduction information (for example,resolution of data and type of codec) necessary to reproduce the datawhen the data are recorded; generation means (for example, a clipgeneration section 104 shown in FIG. 3) for generating a firstmanagement file (for example, a clip information file 151 shown in FIG.6) with which the data are managed for each piece thereof (for example,a clip), the first management file describing the reproductioninformation (for example, [type=“IMX50”], line 8, FIG. 13) obtained bythe information obtainment means and an identifier (for example, [umid:060A2B340101010501010D 12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF]),line 7 and line 8, FIG. 13) that uniquely identifies the data; andregistration means (for example, an index file update section 105 shownin FIG. 3) for registering management information (for example, a clipelement) of the data composed of the reproduction information (forexample, [type=“DV25_(—)411P”], line 4, FIG. 10) obtained by theinformation obtainment means, the identifier (for example, [umid“0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A1”], line 3, FIG. 10) ofthe data, and information (for example, [file=“C0001V01.MXF”], line 4,FIG. 10) that represents the recorded position of the data to a secondmanagement file (for example, an index file 134 shown in FIG. 5) withwhich the data recorded on the record medium are totally managed.

An information process apparatus of claim 3 further comprisesreproduction means (for example, a clip reproduction section 111 shownin FIG. 4) for reproducing the data according to the first managementfile (for example, a clip information file 151 shown in FIG. 6) or thesecond management file (for example, an index file 134 shown in FIG. 5).

An information process apparatus of claim 4 further comprises successivereproduction means (for example, a tape reproduction section 112 shownin FIG. 4) for successively reproducing all the data recorded on therecord medium (for example, an optical disc 17 shown in FIG. 4)according to the first management file (for example, a clip informationfile 151 shown in FIG. 6) or the second management file (for example, anindex file 134 shown in FIG. 5).

An information process method of the present invention is an informationprocess method of managing data (for example, a clip) recorded on arecord medium (for example, an optical disc 17 shown in FIG. 1),comprising the steps of obtaining reproduction information (for example,resolution of data and type of codec) necessary to reproduce the datawhen the data are recorded (for example, at step S22 of FIG. 16);generating a first management file (for example, a clip information file151 shown in FIG. 6) with which the data are managed for each piecethereof (for example, a clip), the first management file describing thereproduction information (for example, [type=“IMX50”], line 8, FIG. 13)obtained by a process of information obtainment step and an identifier(for example, [umid: 060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF]), line 7 and line 8, FIG. 13) that uniquely identifiesthe data (for example, at step S28 of FIG. 16); and registeringmanagement information (for example, a clip element) of the datacomposed of the reproduction information (for example,[type=“DV25_(—)411 P”, line 4, FIG. 10) obtained by the process of theinformation obtainment step, the identifier (for example,[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789A1”], line 3, FIG. 10)of the data, and information (for example, [file=“C00001V01.MXF”], line4, FIG. 10) that represents the recorded position of the data to asecond management file (for example, an index file 134 shown in FIG. 5)with which the data recorded on the record medium are totally managed(for example, at step S29 of FIG. 16).

A program record medium and a program of the present invention basicallyhave the same structure as the information process method of the presentinvention. Thus, their description will be omitted to preventredundancy.

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of avideo program creation support system according to the presentinvention.

In FIG. 1, a video program creation support system 1 is a systeminstalled in for example a television broadcast station that broadcastsa television signal and a video content creation company that createsvideo contents of videos and movies. In addition, the video programcreation support system 1 is a system with which video programs as videoworks such as television programs and movies are created. The videoprogram creation support system 1 is a system that allows video programsto be effectively created so that meta data and so forth added to videoprograms as electronic files can be consistently used among a pluralityof departments that share the creation of a video program.

As shown in FIG. 1, the video program creation support system 1 iscomposed of a planning terminal device 11 with which a video program isplanned, a network 12 to which the planning terminal device 11 isconnected, a news collection terminal device 13 connected to the network12, a photographing device 14 that composes the news collection terminaldevice 13, a field PC/PDA (Personal Computer/Personal DigitalAssistants) 15 (hereinafter referred to as the field PC/PDA 15), anediting terminal device 16 connected to the network 12, and an opticaldisc 17 that is a record medium.

The planning terminal device 11 is composed of an information processdevice such as a personal compute, its peripheral devices, and so forth.The planning terminal device 11 is installed in a planning andorganizing department that plans video programs. The planning andorganizing department manages the overall creation of a video program,makes a plan thereof, creates a scenario (story) thereof, and assignscreation works to other departments such as a news collection departmentand an editing department that will be described later. The planningterminal device 11 performs a process that creates construction tablemeta data that contains creation command information and so forthaccording to a scenario of each video program in an electronic fileformat. The planning terminal device 11 supplies the createdconstruction table meta data to the news collection terminal device 13and so forth through the network 12. In this manner, the planning andorganizing department gives commands for news collection andphotographic scenes to the news collection department and so forth.

The news collection terminal device 13 is a group of terminal devicesused in the news collection department that collects news. The newscollection terminal device 13 is composed of for example thephotographing device 14 and the field PC 15. The news collectiondepartment collects news according to the creation commands receivedfrom the planning and organizing department and a scenario on thecreation spot. The news collection department photographs pictures ofindividual scenes that compose a video program and collectsphotographing conditions.

The photographing device 14 is a video camera such as Camcorder®. Thephotographing device 14 is a device that is used to collect news for anews program and photograph scenes of matches of sports and videocontents such as movies. The photographing device 14 is connected to thenetwork 12. The photographing device 14 obtains construction table metadata from the planning terminal device 11 through the network 12. Thephotographing device 14 displays the obtained construction table metadata in a predetermined display section or the like so that aphotographing staff member such as a cameraman can recognize scenes thathe or she needs to take pictures of. In addition, the photographingstaff member operates the photographing device 14 to take pictures ofindividual scenes that compose a video program according to creationcommand information of the obtained construction table meta data.

The photographing device 14 records video data and audio data that havebeen obtained by the photography to a record medium such as the opticaldisc 17. At this point, the photographing device 14 handles data of avideo content that contains video data, audio data, and so forth as oneclip that is a unit that represents one photographing process andrecords clips to the optical disc 17 so as to mange the clips.

In addition, the photographing device 14 records not only original videodata as video data that have been photographed, but low resolution videodata (hereinafter referred to as the low resolution data) as clips tothe optical disc 17 so as to manage them. Although the data amount oforiginal video data is large, since the resolution thereof is high, theyare used as a final video program. In contrast, the low resolution dataare video data generated by decreasing the number of pixels of eachframe of original video data. Thus, the low resolution data are videodata of pictures of frames whose number of pixels is small. Although thepicture quality of the low resolution data is lower than that of theoriginal video data, since the data amount of the low resolution pictureis small, the loads of a transmission process, a reproduction process,and so forth are light. Thus, the low resolution data are mainly usedfor a rough edit process and so forth.

A plurality of clips recorded on the optical disc 17 by thephotographing device 14 are managed with an index file that totallymanages them (the index file will be described later with reference toFIG. 5) and a clip information file that manages video data, audio data,and so forth that compose a clip (the clip information file will bedescribed later with reference to FIG. 6).

The photographing device 14 displays video data and so forth of a cliprecorded on the optical disc 17 in a predetermined display section orthe like according to the index file or the clip information file sothat the photographing staff member can check whether he or she has tooka picture according to the creation command information. In addition,the photographing device 14 is capable of successively displaying aplurality of clips recorded on the optical disc 17 in the predetermineddisplay section or the like according to the index file or the clipinformation file as if video data recorded on a tape were successivelyreproduced so that the photographing staff member can successively checka plurality of scenes that he or she has taken.

A clip is a unit that represents not only one photographing process, buta duration from the beginning of the photographing process to the endthereof. In stead, a clip may be a unit that represents the length ofone of various types of data obtained in the photographing process. Instead, a clip may be a unit that represents the data amount of one ofvarious types of data obtained in the photographing process. Instead, aclip may represent a set of various types of data.

The optical disc 17 on which a plurality of clips (video data, audiodata, and so forth) have been recorded by the photographing device 14 iscarried to for example the editing department, which will be describedlater, the field PC 15, or the like so that they are used thereby.However, since it takes a time to carry the optical disc 17 to them, thephotographing device 14 may supply video data to the planning terminaldevice 11, the field PC 15, the editing terminal device 16, or the likethrough the network 12. In this case, it is preferred that thephotographing device 14 supply the corresponding low resolution data ofthe video data that have been photographed because the data amount ofthe low resolution data is smaller than that of the video data that havebeen photographed, to shorten the transfer time (lighten the load of thetransfer process).

The transfer process for the low resolution data by the photographingdevice 14 may be performed at any timing. In other words, the transferprocess may be performed in parallel with the photographing process.Instead, the transfer process may be performed after the photographingprocess has been completed.

When the low resolution data are transferred, the editing department canstart the editing work in a relatively early stage before the editingdepartment receives the optical disc 17 (for example, while thephotographing process is being performed). Thus, the creation efficiencyof the video program can be improved. When the low resolution data aretransferred through the network 12, the photographing device 14 mayrecord only original video data and audio data (without the lowresolution data thereof) to the optical disc 17.

The record medium on which the photographing device 14 records videocontents and so forth are not limited to the foregoing optical disc 17.Instead, any type of a record medium may be used. For example, aoptical-magnetic disc including MD (Mini-Disc)® or MO (Magneto Opticaldisc), a magnetic disc that includes a flexible disc, a magnetic tapeused for DV (Digital Video) and VHD (Video Home System), a semiconductormemory that includes a flash memory, or the like may be used.

The field PC 15 is composed of for example a portable informationprocess device such as a note type personal computer, a PDA, or thelike, its peripheral devices, and so forth. The field PC 15 is connectedto the photographing device 14 through one of various types ofnon-wireless and wireless systems. The field PC 15 can share for exampleconstruction table meta data, video contents, and so forth with thephotographing device 14.

The field PC 15 obtains construction table meta data from the planningterminal device 11 through the network 12 and obtains construction tablemeta data from the photographing device 14. The field PC 15 displays theobtained construction table meta data in the predetermined displaysection so that a person in charge of the news collection department canrecognize scenes that he or she needs to collect and photograph.

In addition, the field PC 15 generates photography state informationthat is information about news collection and photography statescorresponding to an input of a person in charge of the news collectiondepartment as a user and adds the generated photography stateinformation to a related field of the construction table meta data. Thephotography state information is text data or the like described fromvarious aspects for each take and for each news collection scene. Thephotography state information is information that will becomes usefulwhen the later editing process is preformed. In such a manner, the fieldPC 15 edits construction table meta data by writing photography stateinformation to the construction table meta data. In addition, the fieldPC 15 supplies photography state information as meta data to thephotographing device 14 so that the photography state information isadded to video data and audio data obtained by the photographing device14.

The editing terminal device 16 is composed of an information processdevice such as a personal computer and its peripheral devices. Theediting terminal device 16 is installed in the editing department thatperforms the edit process for video contents. The editing departmentedits video data and audio data obtained by the photographing device 14according to creation commands and scenario prepared by the planning andorganizing department, construction table meta data reflected by newscollection state of the news collection department and completes a videoprogram.

The editing terminal device 16 obtains construction table meta data andlow resolution data from for example the photographing device 14 throughthe network 12. In addition, the editing terminal device 16 obtainsoriginal video data and audio data from the optical disc 17 on whichclips (video data and audio data) have been recorded. In addition, theediting terminal device 16 can directly obtain a creation command (acommand regarding editing) from the planning terminal device 11, thefield PC 15, or the like through the network 12.

The editing terminal device 16 suitably reproduces the obtained videocontent and displays it in the predetermined display section accordingto the obtained construction table meta data. For example, the useroperates the editing terminal device 16 so that it successively displayslow resolution data obtained through the network 12 and original videodata and audio data from the optical disc 17 according to the scenario,original video data and audio data of all clips recorded on the opticaldisc 17, or only video data of a desired clip. When original video datarecorded on the optical disc 17 are reproduced, the editing terminaldevice 16 uses a disc device that is a record and reproduction devicethat reads data from the optical disc 17 and writes data thereto. Atthis point, the editing terminal device 16 references the index file orthe clip information file, which manages data recoded on the opticaldisc 17.

The editing terminal device 16 reproduces required video data and soforth in the proper order according to for example construction tablemeta data and displays the reproduced video data and so forth. Inaddition, the editing terminal device 16 performs an edit process forvideo data and so forth that have been obtained by news collection work.The edit process can be categorized as a rough edit process and a mainedit process.

The rough edit process is a simple edit process for video data and audiodata. For example, when the editing terminal device 16 obtains aplurality of clips in the rough edit process, the editing terminaldevice 16 selects a clip that will be used in the main edit process,selects (logs) a necessary picture portion from data of the selectedclip, sets up the edit start point (In point) and the edit end point(Out point) of the selected picture portion with for example a timecode, and extracts (ingests) the corresponding portion from the data ofthe clip.

The main edit process is a process that connects video data that composeclips for which the rough edit process has been performed, adjusts thefinal picture quality for the connected video data, and creates perfectpackage data that are data that will be broadcast as a program.

Like the photographing device 14, the editing terminal device 16 cancombine video data and audio data obtained for example through thenetwork 12 or from another record medium into one clip and record theclip to the optical disc 17.

There may be plurality of planning terminal devices 11, photographingdevices 14, field PCs 15, editing terminal devices 16, and so forth. Forexample, video data and so forth obtained by a plurality ofphotographing devices 14 may be obtained by one editing terminal device16 through the optical disc 17 or the network 12. The photographingdevice 14 may perform the edit process for the obtained data. Datasupplied from one photographing device 14 may be edited by a pluralityof editing terminal devices 16.

Although the planning terminal device 11, the photographing device 14,the field PC 15, the editing terminal device 16, and so forth weredescribed as independent devices, parts or all functions of thesedevices may be mutually integrated.

In addition, besides the planning terminal device 11, the photographingdevice 14, the field PC 15, and the editing terminal device 16, thevideo program creation support system 1 may have for example a centerserver (not shown) connected to the network 12 to configure aclient/server system of which the planning terminal device 11, thephotographing device 14, the field PC 15, the editing terminal device16, and so forth are clients.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the detailed structure of the photographingdevice 14 shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51of the photographing device 14 executes various processes according to aprogram stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52. When necessary, a RAM(Random Access Memory) 53 stores data, a program, and so forth that theCPU 51 needs to execute various processes.

A record control section 54 controls the recording of video data, audiodata, low resolution data, and so forth supplied from an encoder/decodersection 56 or video data, audio data, low resolution data, and so forthstored in a storage section 64 to the optical disc 17 through a drive 66according to a file system of the optical disc 17. Details of the filesystem will be described later with reference to FIG. 5.

A reproduction control section 55 controls the drive 66 according to thefile system of the optical disc 17, reads video data, audio data, lowresolution data, or the like from the optical disc 17, and supplies thevideo data, audio data, low resolution data, or the like read from theoptical disc 17 to the encoder/decoder section 56.

The encoder/decoder section 56 encodes video data and audio data thatare input from an input section 62 according to a predetermined codecand supplies the encoded video data and audio data to the storagesection 64 or the record control section 54. When necessary, theencoder/decoder section 56 encodes the video data are input from theinput section 62 according to for example the MPEG4 system, supplies theencoded video data as low resolution data to the storage section 64 orthe record control section 54, encodes the audio data that are inputfrom the input section 62 according to for example the ITU-T G.711 A-Lawsystem, and supplies the encoded audio data as low resolution data tothe storage section 64 or the record control section 54.

In addition, the encoder/decoder section 56 outputs the video data,audio data, or low resolution data supplied from the reproductioncontrol section 55 to a monitor, a speaker, or the like that composes anoutput section 63.

The CPU 51, the ROM 52, the RAM 53, the record control section 54, thereproduction control section 55, and the encoder/decoder section 56 aremutually connected through a bus 57. Connected to the bus 57 is also aninput/output interface 60.

Connected to the input/output interface 60 is an operation section 61composed of a keyboard and a mouse. The input/output interface 60outputs a signal corresponding to an input of the operation section 61to the CPU 51. Connected to the input/output interface 60 are also theinput section 62 composed of a camera that photographs an object andinputs the photographed video data, a microphone that inputs audio data,and so forth, the output section 63 composed of a monitor composed of aCRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), or the like, aspeaker, and so forth, a storage section 64 composed of a hard disk, anEEPROM (Electronically Erasable and ProgRAMmable Read Only Memory), andso forth, the communication section 65, and the drive 66.

The communication section 65 is composed of for example an IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 port, a USB(Universal Serial Bus) port, an NIC (Network Interface Card) connectedto a LAN (Local Area Network), an analog modem, a TA (Terminal Adaptor),a DSU (Digital Service Unit), an ADSL (Asynchronous Digital SubscriberLine) modem, or the like. The communication section 65 exchanges datawith the editing terminal device 16 through the network 12 for examplethe Internet or an intranet.

The drive 66 loads and unloads the optical disc 17. By driving theoptical disc 17, the drive 66 can record video data and audio data tothe optical disc 17 and reproduce video data and audio data from theoptical disc 17.

The optical disc 17 is an optical disc on which a large capacity of data(for example, 27 Gigabytes) having a mark length of 0.14 μm (minimum)and a track pitch of 0.32 μm is recorded with a blue-purple laser havinga numerical aperture (NA) of 0.85 and a wavelength of 405 nm. Theoptical disc 17 may be another type of a record medium. For example, theoptical disc 17 may be one of various types of optical discs such asDVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory), DVD-R(DVD-Recordable), DVD-RW (DVD-ReWritable), DVD+(DVD+Recordable), DVD+RW(DVD+ReWritable), CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), CD-RW (CD-ReWritable),or the like.

Video data, audio data, and so forth recorded on the optical disc 17 aremanaged as one clip by the file system that will be described later withreference to FIG. 5. In the file system, a plurality of clips recordedon the optical disc 17 are managed by the index file and the clipinformation file. The index file is a management file that manages allclips. The clip information file is a management file that managesessence data of each clip.

When the optical disc is loaded into the drive 66, the index file isread from the drive 66 and stored to the RAM 53. When a clip to bereproduced is designated, the clip information file is read from theoptical disc 66 and stored to the RAM 53. Hereinafter, video data, audiodata, low resolution data, and so forth that compose a clip are referredto as essence data.

When necessary, a drive 67 is also connected to the input/outputinterface 60. The drive 67 is used when data are read from and writtento a removable medium 71 composed of a record medium such as a magneticdisc, an optical disc, an optical-magnetic disc, a semiconductor memory,or the like.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of the record control section54 shown in FIG. 2. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the record controlsection 54 is composed of a data obtainment section 101, an informationobtainment section 102, a data generation section 103, a clip generationsection 104, an index file update section 105, a data record section106, and a table record section 107.

The data obtainment section 101 obtains video data, audio data, lowresolution data, and so forth from the encoder/decoder section 56 or thestorage section 64 and supplies them to the data generation section 103.When the CPU 51 causes the record control section 54 to start recordingdata, the information obtainment section 102 obtains parameterinformation from the RAM 53 and supplies the parameter information tothe data generation section 103, the clip generation section 104, andthe index file generation section 105. The parameter information issetup information for the photographing device 14 and used to input(photograph and record) video data and audio data from the input section62. The parameter information is reproduction information such asinformation about resolution of video data and audio data that are inputand the type of codec (encoding method). The parameter information hasbeen set up in the photographing device 14 or is set up by thephotographing staff member or the like and stored in the RAM 53 throughthe operation section 61.

The data generation section 103 generates each type of essence data(video data, audio data, and low resolution data) in a predeterminedformat (in this case, MXF (Material exchange Format) with video data,audio data, low resolution data, and so forth supplied from the dataobtainment section 101 according to parameter information supplied fromthe information obtainment section 102 and outputs the essence data tothe data record section 106. The data generation section 103 alsogenerates meta data in a predetermined form according to the parameterinformation and so forth supplied from the information obtainmentsection 102 and outputs the meta data and so forth to the data recordsection 106.

When the parameter information has been input from the informationobtainment section 102 to the clip generation section 104, it generatesa clip directory to generate a new clip for data that will be input. Inaddition, the clip generation section 104 generates a clip informationfile that describes attribute information of each type of essence datanecessary to reproduce each type of essence data generated by the datageneration section 103 according to the parameter information suppliedfrom the information obtainment section 102 and outputs the generatedclip information file to the table record section 107.

The index file update section 105 generates clip elements correspondingto the generated clip according to the parameter information suppliedfrom the information obtainment section 102 and updates the index filethat has been read from the optical disc 17 and stored in the RAM 53with the clip elements. The generated clip elements describe clipattribute information necessary to reproduce the clip. The index fileupdate section 105 outputs the updated index file to the table recordsection 107.

The data record section 106 records the data generated by the datageneration section 103 to the optical disc 17 through the drive 66. Thetable record section 107 records the clip directory, the clipinformation file, and so forth generated by the clip generation section104 and the index file updated by the index file update section 105 tothe optical disc 17 through the drive 66.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the structure of the reproduction controlsection 55 shown in FIG. 2. In the example shown in FIG. 4, thereproduction control section 55 is composed of a clip reproductionsection 111, a tape reproduction section 112, an index file informationobtainment section 113 and a clip information obtainment section 114.The clip reproduction section 111 and the tape reproduction section 112of the reproduction control section 55 control the index fileinformation obtainment section 113 or the clip information obtainmentsection 114 according to a clip reproduction start command or a tapereproduction start command issued from the CPU 51 and read data from theoptical disc 17.

Although the clip reproduction is the reproduction for one clip, thetape reproduction is a successive clip reproduction process thatsuccessively reproduces all clips from the optical disc 17 in the orderof which they were recorded as if data were reproduced from a tape.

When the clip reproduction section 111 inputs the clip reproductionstart command from the CPU 51, the clip reproduction section 111controls the index file information obtainment section 113 or the clipinformation obtainment section 114 to obtain information necessary toreproduce the corresponding clip, controls the drive 66 according to theobtained information, reads video data, audio data, low resolution data,or the like from the optical disc 17, and supplies the video data, audiodata, low resolution data, or the like to the encoder/decoder section56.

When the tape reproduction section 112 inputs the tape reproductionstart command from the CPU 51, the tape reproduction section 112controls the index file information obtainment section 113 or the clipinformation obtainment section 114 to obtain information necessary toreproduce the corresponding clips, controls the drive 66 according tothe obtained information, reads video data, audio data, low resolutiondata, or the like from the optical disc 17, and supplies the video data,audio data, low resolution data, or the like to the encoder/decodersection 56. In other words, the tape reproduction section 112 readsclips from the optical disc 17 in the order of which they wereregistered in the index file obtained from the index file informationobtainment section 113 and outputs the clips.

The index file information obtainment section 113 obtains informationnecessary to reproduce the corresponding clip(s) from the index filestored in the RAM 53 under the control the clip reproduction section 111or the tape reproduction section 112 and outputs the information to theclip reproduction section 111 or the tape reproduction section 112.

The clip information obtainment section 114 reads the corresponding clipinformation file from the optical disc 17 through the drive 66 under thecontrol of the clip reproduction section 111 or the tape reproductionsection 112 and stores the clip information file to the RAM 53. Inaddition, the clip information obtainment section 114 obtainsinformation necessary to reproduce the corresponding clip(s) from theclip information file stored in the RAM 53 and outputs the informationto the clip reproduction section 111 or the tape reproduction section112.

Next, the file system that manages data recorded on the optical disc 17and the directory structure and files of the file system will bedescribed. In the file system, data recorded on the optical disc 17 aremanaged in the directory structure and files shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the file system of theoptical disc 17. In FIG. 5, under a root directory (ROOT) 131, a PROAVdirectory 132 is placed. Under the PROAV directory 132, directories forinformation about essence data of video data, audio data, and so forth,an edit list that represents an edit result of essence data, and soforth are placed. Under the root directory 131, construction table dataand so forth (not shown) are placed.

Under the PROAV directory 132, a disc meta file (DISCMETA.XML) 133 thatis a file that contains titles and comments of all essence data recordedon the optical disc 17 and information such as a path to video datacorresponding to a representative picture as a representative frame ofall video data recorded on the optical disc 17, an index file(INDEX.XML) 134 that contains management information and so forth withwhich all clips and edit lists recorded on the optical disc 17 aremanaged, and an index file (INDEX.BUP) 135 are placed. The index file135 is a copy of the index file (INDEX.XML) 134. With the two files, thereliability is improved.

Under the PROAV directory 132, a disc information file (DISCINFO.XML)136 that is a file that contains meta data of all data recorded on theoptical disc 17, for example information such as disc attributes,reproduction start position, Reclnhi, or the like and a disc informationfile (DISCINFO.BUP) 137 are placed. The disc information file 137 is acopy of the disc information file 136. With the two files, thereliability is improved. However, when these information is updated,only the disc information file 136 may be updated.

Besides these files, under the PROAV directory 132, a clip rootdirectory (CLPR) 138 whose lower directory contains data of clips and anedit list root directory (EDTR) 139 whose lower directory contains dataof edit lists are placed.

Under the clip directory 138, data of clips recorded on the optical disc17 are managed with directories corresponding to clips. For example, inFIG. 5, data of three clips are managed with three directories that area clip directory (C0001) 141, a clip directory (C0002) 142, and a clipdirectory (C0003) 143. In other words, data of the first clip recordedon the optical disc 17 are managed as a file in a lower directory of theclip directory 141. Data of the second clip recorded in the optical disc17 are managed as a file in a lower directory of the clip directory 142.Data of the third clip recorded on the optical disc 17 are managed as afile in a lower directory of the clip directory 143.

Each clip directory has rewrite and deletion prohibition attributeinformation. The rewrite and deletion prohibition attribute of datamanaged as a lower directory of each clip directory is managed accordingto rewrite and deletion prohibition attribute information of the upperclip directory.

Under the edit list root directory 139, edit lists recorded on theoptical disc 17 are managed with directories corresponding to editprocesses. In the case shown in FIG. 5, four edit lists are managed withfour directories that are an edit list directory (E0001) 144, an editlist directory (E0002) 145, an edit list directory (E0003) 146, and anedit list directory (E0004) 147.

In other words, an edit list that represents the first edit result of aclip recorded on the optical disc 17 is managed as a file in a lowerdirectory of the edit list directory 144. An edit list that representsthe second edit result is managed as a file in a lower directory of theedit list directory 145. An edit list that represents the third editresult is managed as a file in a lower directory of the edit listdirectory 146. An edit list that represents the fourth edit result ismanaged as a file in a lower directory of the edit list directory 147.

A lower directory of the clip directory 141 under the clip rootdirectory 138 contains and manages each type of data of the first cliprecorded on the optical disc 17 as files shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the structure of the clip directory 141 shownin FIG. 5. In the case shown in FIG. 6, the clip directory 141 containsa clip information file (C0001C01.SMI) 151 that is a file with which theclip is managed, a video data file (C0001V01.MXF) 152 that is a filecontains video data of the clip, eight audio data files (C0001A01.MXF toC0001A08.MXF) 153 to 160 that are eight files that contain audio data ofindividual channels of the clip, a low resolution data file(C0001S01.MXF) 161 that is a file that contains low resolution datacorresponding to video data of the clip, a clip meta data file(C0001M01.XML) 162 that is a file that contains clip meta data as metadata that do not need to be in real time corresponding to essence dataof the clip, for example, a conversion table between LTC (Linear TimeCode) and frame number, a frame meta data file (C0001R01.BIM) 163 thatis a file that contains frame meta data that are meta data that need tobe in real time corresponding to essence data of the clip, for example,LTC, a picture pointer file (C0001I01.PPF) 164 that is a file thatdescribes the frame structure of the video data file 152 (for example,information about the compression format of each picture in MPEG or thelike and information such as an offset address from the beginning of thefile), and so forth. As described above, the rewrite and deletionprohibition attributes of these files are managed according to therewrite and deletion prohibition information of the clip directory 141.

In the case shown in FIG. 6, video data, low resolution data, and framemeta data that are data that need to be reproduced in real time aremanaged as different files so that their read times do not increase.

Likewise, audio data need to be reproduced in real time. To deal withaudio data of multi channels such as 7.1 channels, eight channels areprovided. They are managed as different files. In other words, audiodata are managed as eight files. Instead, files for audio data may beseven files or less or nine files or larger.

Likewise, when necessary, video data, low resolution data, and framemetadata may be managed as two or more files each.

In FIG. 6, clip meta data that do not need to be in real time aremanaged as a file different from frame meta data that need to be in realtime. This is because meta data are prevented from being unnecessarilyreproduced while video data and so forth are being normally reproduced.Thus, the process time of the reproduction process can be shortened andthe load for the process can be lightened.

To allow the clip meta data file 162 to have versatility, the clip metadata file 162 is described in the XML (extensible Markup Language)format. However, to shorten the process time for the reproductionprocess and lighten the load for the process, the frame meta data file163 is a BIM format file of which an XML format file has been compiled.

The example of the structure of the files in the clip directory 141shown in FIG. 6 can be applied to all clip directories of clips recordedon the optical disc 17. In other words, the example of the structure ofthe files shown in FIG. 6 can be applied to the other directories 142and 143 shown in FIG. 5. Thus, their description will be omitted.

Each file contained in a clip directory for one clip was described.However, the structure of files is not limited to the foregoing example.Instead, any structure may be used as long as a clip meta data file of aclip is contained in a lower director of each clip directory.

Next, an example of the structure of files contained in a lowerdirectory of the edit list root directory 139 shown in FIG. 5 will bedescribed. A lower directory of the edit list directory 145 under theedit list root directory 139 contains and manages data of an edit listthat is information about the second edit result of each type of data ofa clip recorded on the optical disc 17 as files shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the structure of the edit list directory 145shown in FIG. 5. In the case shown in FIG. 7, the edit list directory145 contains an edit list file (E0002E01.SMI) 171 that is a file withwhich the edit result (edit list) is managed, an edit list clip metadata file (E0002M01.XML) 172 that is a file that contains clip meta datacorresponding to essence data of edited data (a portion extracted asedited data from essence data of all clips) or clip meta data newlygenerated according to the clip meta data, a play list file(E0002P01.SMI) 173 that is a file that contains information such as areproduction procedure (play list) of essence data according to the editresult (edit list), a play list picture pointer file (E0002I01.PPF) 174that is a file that describes the frame structure (for example,information about the compression format of each picture of MPEG or thelike and information of an offset address from the beginning of thefile) of video data reproduced according to the reproduction procedurecontained in the play list file 173, a play list video data file(B0002V01.BMX) 175 that is a file that contains video data that assurereal time reproduction according to the reproduction procedure (playlist) of the play list file 173, four play list audio data files(B0002A01.BMX to B0002A04.BMX) 176 to 179 that are four files thatcontain audio data that assure real time reproduction according to thereproduction procedure (play list) of the play list file 173, a playlist low resolution data file (B0002S01.BMX) 180 that is a file thatcontains low resolution data that assures real time reproductionaccording to the reproduction procedure (play list) of the play listfile 173, a play list frame meta data file (B0002R01.BRM) 181 that is afile that contains frame meta data that assure real time reproductionaccording to the reproduction procedure (play list) of the play listfile 173, and so forth.

In FIG. 7, clip meta data that do not need to be in real time aremanaged as a file different from frame meta data that need to be in realtime. This is because meta data are prevented from being unnecessarilyreproduced while video data and so forth are being reproduced (the editresult is being reproduced) with the reproduction procedure (play list).Thus, the process time of the reproduction process can be shortened andthe load for the process can be lightened.

The edit list clip meta data file 172 is a file that contains new clipdata generated according to clip meta data (a clip meta data filecontained in a lower directory of the clip root directory 138) of a clipused for editing data according to an edit result. Whenever data areedited, the edit list clip meta data file is generated. The edit listclip meta data file 172 is described in the XML format so that the filehas versatility.

Video data contained in the play list video data file 175, audio datacontained in the play list audio data files 176 to 179, low resolutiondata contained in the play list low resolution data file 180, and framemeta data contained in the play list frame meta data file 181 are dataextracted from video data, audio data, low resolution data, and framemeta data of a clip corresponding to the edit result and managed in alower directory of the clip root directory 138 shown in FIG. 6. Thesedata are read when a reproduction process is preformed according to areproduction procedure (play list) contained in the play list file 173.Since data of these edit results are provided, when a reproductionprocess is performed according to a play list, the number of files to beread can be decreased. Thus, the process time can be shortened and theload for the process can be lightened.

When necessary, video data, low resolution data, and frame meta data maybe managed as a plurality of files each. Likewise, the number of filesof audio data may be three or less or five or more.

The play list frame meta data file 181 is a BBM format filecorresponding to the BIM format of which an XML format file has beencompiled so that the process time for the reproduction process isshortened and the load for the process is lightened.

The forgoing example of the structure of the files in the edit listdirectory 145 shown in FIG. 7 can be applied to all edit lists (editresults). In other words, the example of the structure of the filesshown in FIG. 7 can be applied to the other edit list directory 144,146, or 147 shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the description of these directorieswill be omitted.

Each file contained in the edit list directory for one edit operationhas been described. However, the structure of files is not limited tothe foregoing example. Instead, any structure may be applied as long asedit list clip meta data files for an edit operation are contained in alower directory of each edit list directory.

Next, the index file of the file system of the optical disc 17 will bedescribed. As described above, the index file is composed of a cliptable (clipTable) that describes management information with which allclips recorded on the optical disc 17 are totally managed and an editlist table (editlistTable) that describes management information withwhich all edit lists recorded on the optical disc 17 are managed. Theclip table also contains management information for essence data (videodata, audio data, low resolution data, and so forth) of each clip. Theedit list table contains meta data of edit lists and managementinformation for play lists and so forth. The index file is a file mainlyused on the optical disc 17 to manage data recorded thereon. The indexfile is managed in the XML format according to a unique schema.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the index file 134 shown in FIG. 5. In FIG.8, a numeral and a colon sign (:) at the beginning of each line areadded for explanation purpose. Thus, they are not a part of a code. Aplus sign (+) followed by an unequal sign (<) represents that the linehas a child element. Likewise, the plus sign is not also a part of acode. These rules are applied to codes shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 14.

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>, line 1, represents that theindex file 134 starting from line 2 is described in XML format, version“1.0” and encoded according to UTF-8. In the example shown in FIG. 8,between <indexFile xmlns=urn:schemas-professionalDisc:index:2003”xmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“index.xsd”>, line 2 to line 4, and</indexFile>, line 7, the index file 134 is described in an XML formatdefined by schema “schemas-professionalDisc.”

<clipTable path=“/PROAV/CLPR/”>, line 5, represents a clip table withwhich all clips on the optical disc 17 are managed and that all clipsmanaged with the clip table are recorded under [/PROAV/CLPR/] of theoptical disc 17. Child elements contained in the clip table of<clipTable path=“/PROAV/CLPR/”>, line 5, will be described withreference to FIG. 9.

<editlistTable path=“/PROAV/EDTR/”>, line 6, represents an edit listtable with which all edit lists on the optical disc 17 are managed andthat all edit lists managed with the edit list table are recorded under[/PROAV/EDTR/] on the optical disc 17. Child elements contained in theedit list table of <editlistTable path=“/PROAV/EDTR/”>, line 6, will bedescribed later with reference to FIG. 11.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the clip table of <clipTablepath=“/PROAV/CLPR/”>, line 5, FIG. 8. In the clip table shown in FIG. 9,between <clipTable path=“/PROAV/CLPR/”> tag, line 1, and </clipTable>tag, line 18, clips recorded on the optical disc 17 are described asclip elements in the order of which they were recorded.

<clip id=“C0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AA”file=“C0001C01.SMI” fps=“59.94i” dur=“12001” ch=“4” aspectRatio “4:3”>,line 2 to line 5, represents a clip element of the first clip recordedon the optical disc 17.

Firstly, [clip id=“C0001”umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AA”file=“C0001C01.SMI”], line 2 to line 5, will be described. [clipid.=“C0001”] represents that the clip ID that is information thatuniquely identifies each clip on the optical disc 17 is [“C0001”].[umid=“0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AA”] represents aworldwide unique identifier umid (unique material identifier, which willbe described later with reference to FIG. 13), assigned to this clipwith 22 bytes of 32 bytes excluding a common part of the first 10 bytes.[file=“C0001C01.SMI”] represents the file name of the clip informationfile that describes management information with which the clip recordedon the optical disc 17 is managed.

In other words, [clip id=“C0001”umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AA” file “C0001C01.SMI”]is information about a conversion table necessary to obtain the clipinformation file of the clip identified by the clip ID or umid. When theclip ID or umid is designated, the file name of the clip informationfile of the corresponding clip is obtained with reference to the indexfile. With reference to the file name and [path=“/PROAV/CLPR/], line 1,FIG. 9, the position of the clip information file recorded on theoptical disc 17 can be obtained.

10 bytes of Univ Label (Universal Label) represented by the first 12bytes of umid are a fixed header that represents umid. Umid of the indexfile is information that is converted into a file name. Unlike umiddescribed in a clip information file or the like, umid of the index fileis not often used outside the optical disc 17. Thus, umid of the indexfile is described without the first 10 bytes. As a result, the capacityof the index file can be decreased.

[fps=“59.94i” dur=“12001” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”], line 2 to line 5,describes attribute information necessary to reproduce the clip.[fps=“59.94i”] represents that the resolution in the time base directionis 59.94 field/sec and that the reproduction method for the clip isbased on the interlace system. [dur=“12001”] represents that theeffective length of the clip in the time direction is 1201 frames.[ch=“4”] represents that the number of channels of audio data thatcompose the clip is four channels. [aspectRatio=“4:3”] represents thatthe aspect ratio of video data that compose the clip is “4:3”.

Among these attribute information, [fps=“59.94i” ch=“4”aspectRatio=“4:3”] is described as setup information that is input forthe photographing device 14 with the input section 62 to input(photograph and record) video data and audio data according to theirparameter information (information about resolution, type of codec, andso forth) stored in the RAM 53.

Since the structure of each of the clip elements of clip ID “C0002” to“C0004” is basically the same as that of the clip element of clip ID“C0001,” their description will be omitted. <clip id=“C0002”umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AB” file=“C0002C01.SMI”fps=“59.94i” dur=“4000” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>, line 6 to line 9,represents a clip element as the next clip of the clip of clip ID“C0001” recorded on the optical disc 17. This statement represents thatthe clip ID is [“C0002”], umid is [“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AB”], the file name of the clip information file is[“C0002C01.SMI”], the resolution of the clip in the time base directionis 59.94 field/sec, the reproduction method for the clip is based on theinterlace system, the effective length of the clip in the time directionis 4000 frames, the number of channels of audio data that compose theclip is four channel, and the aspect ratio of video data that composethe clip is “4:3.”

<clip id=“C0003” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AC”file=“C0003C01.SMI” fps=“59.94i” dur=“10000” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>,line 10 to line 13, represents a clip element as the next clip of theclip of clip ID “C0002” recorded on the optical disc 17. This statementrepresents that the clip ID is [“C0003”], umid is [“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AC”], the file name of the clip informationfile is [“C0003C01.SMI”], the resolution of the clip in the time basedirection is 59.94 field/sec, the reproduction method for the clip isbased on the interlace system, the effective length of the clip in thetime direction is 10000 frames, the number of channels of audio datathat compose the clip is four channel, and the aspect ratio of videodata that compose the clip is “4:3.”

<clip id=“C0004” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AD”file=“C0004C01.SMI” fps “59.94i” dur=“12001” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“16:9”>,line 14 to line 17, represents a clip element as the next clip of theclip of clip ID “C0003” recorded on the optical disc 17. This statementrepresents that the clip ID is [“C0004”], umid is [“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AD”], the file name of the clip informationfile is [“C0004C01.SMI”], the resolution of the clip in the time basedirection is 59.94 field/sec, the reproduction method for the clip isbased on the interlace system, the effective length of the clip in thetime direction is 12001 frames, the number of channels of audio datathat compose the clip is four channel, and the aspect ratio of videodata that compose the clip is “16:9.”

As described above, clip elements composed of clip ID, umid, informationabout file name conversion table for clip information file, andattribute information necessary to reproduce the clip are described inthe clip table of the index file in the order of which the clip elementsare recorded on the optical disc 17.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a clip element of clip ID [“C0001”] of[<clip id=“C0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789AA”file=“C0001C01.SMI” fps=“59.94i” dur=“12001” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>],line 2 to line 5, FIG. 9. In the clip element shown in FIG. 10, between<clip id=“C0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789AA”file=“C0001C01.SMI” fps=“59.94i” dur=“12001” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>tag, line 2 and line 2, and </clip> tag, line 17, essence data thatcomposes the clip are described as clip child elements.

<video umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A1”file=.“C0001V01.MXF” type “DV25_(—)411P”/>, line 3 to line 4, representsa clip child element of a video data file that composes the clip.

Firstly, [umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A1”file=“C0001V01.MXF”], line 3 and line 4, will be described. Like thecase shown in FIG. 9, [umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A1” is a worldwide unique identifier umid (unique materialidentifier) assigned to the video data file with 22 bytes of 32 bytesexcluding the common part of the first 10 bytes. [file=“C0001V01.MXF”]represents the file name of the video data file that composes the cliprecorded on the optical disc 17.

In other words, [umid=“0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A1”]is information about a conversion table necessary to obtain the filename of the clip essence data file (in this case, a video data file) ofthe clip identified by umid. When umid is designated, the file name ofthe corresponding clip essence data file (in this case, a video datafile) is obtained with reference to the index file. With reference tothe file name and [path=“/PROAV/CLPR/], line 2, FIG. 9, the position ofthe essence data file recorded on the optical disc 17 can be obtained.

[type=“DV25_(—)411P], line 3 and line 4, describes attribute informationof the video data file necessary to reproduce the essence data file (inthis case, the video data file). [type=“DV25_(—)411P”] represents thatthe type of codec of the video data file is [“DV25_(—)411P”]. Like theattribute information of the clip element shown in FIG. 9, the attributeinformation [type=“DV25_(—)411P”] is described as setup information thatis input for the photographing device 14 with the input section 62 toinput (photograph and record) video data and audio data according totheir parameter information (information about resolution, type ofcodec, and so forth) stored in the RAM 53.

Since the structure of each of clip child elements of an audio datafile, a low resolution data file, a clip meta data file, and a framemeta data file that compose a clip is basically the same as thestructure of a clip child element of a video data file, theirdescription will be omitted. <audioumid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A2” file=“C0001A01.MXF”type “LPCM16” cast=“CH1”/>, line 5 and line 6, represents a clip childelement of an audio data file that composes the clip. This statementrepresents that umid is [umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A2”], that the file name of the audio datafile is “C0001A01.MXF”, that the type of codec of the audio data file is[“LPCM16”], and that this audio data file is reproduced as channel 1(“CH1”). When a child element is an audio data file, the child elementdescribes [“cast=“CH1”] as channel information of which the audio datafile is reproduced.

<audio umid “0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A3”file=“C0001A02.MXF” type “LPCM16” cast=“CH2”/>, line 7 and line 8,represents a clip child element of an audio data file that composes theclip. This statement represents that umid is[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A3”], that the filename of the audio data file is “C0001A02.MXF”, that the type of codec ofthe audio data file is [“LPCM16”], and that this audio data file isreproduced as channel 2(“CH2”).

<audio umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A4”file=“C0001A03.MXF” type “LPCM16” cast=“CH3”/>, line 9 and line 10,represents a clip child element of an audio data file that composes theclip. This statement represents that umid is[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A4”], that the filename of the audio data file is “C0001A03.MXF”, that the type of codec ofthe audio data file is [“LPCM16”], and that this audio data file isreproduced as channel 3(“CH3”).

<audio umid “0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A5”file=“C0001A04.MXF” type “LPCM16” cast=“CH4”/>, line 11 and line 12,represents a clip child element of an audio data file that composes theclip. This statement represents that umid is[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A5”], that the filename of the audio data file is “C0001A04.MXF”, that the type of codec ofthe audio data file is [“LPCM16”], and that this audio data file isreproduced as channel 4 (“CH4”).

<substream umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789 ABCDEF0123456789A6”file=“C0001S01.MXF” type “PD-SubStream”/>, line 13 and line 14,represents a clip child element of a low resolution data file thatcomposes the clip. This statement represents that umid is[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789A6”], that the filename of the low resolution data file is “C0001S01.MXF”, and that thetype of codec of the low resolution data file is [“PD-SubStream”].

<meta file=“C0001M01.XML” type=“PD-Meta”/>, line 15, represents a clipchild element of a clip meta data file that composes the clip. Thisstatement represents that the file name of the clip meta data file is[“C0001M01.XML”] and that the type of codec is [“PD-Meta”].

<rtmeta file=“C0001R01.BIM” type=“std”> line 16, represents a clip childelement of a frame meta data file that composes the clip. This statementrepresents that the file name of the frame meta data file is.[“C0001R01.BIM”] and that the type of codec is [“std”]. In this case,although umid is not designated to the clip meta data file and the framemeta data file, umid may be designated thereto.

As described above, the clip table of the index file describes umid ofthe essence data that composes the clip, information about the file nameconversion table of the essence data, and attribute information (type ofcodec and resolution) necessary to reproduce the essence data thatcompose the clip. Thus, when only the index file is read, informationnecessary to reproduce the clip is obtained. Thus, when only essencedata that composes a clip is read from the optical disc 17 according tothe obtained file name, the clip can be reproduced. In other words, theprocess time that takes after the reproduction is designated until thereproduction is preformed is shortened.

The example of the structure of the clip element of clip ID [“C0001”]shown in FIG. 10 can be applied to clip elements of all clip IDs ofclips recorded on the optical disc 17. In other words, since the exampleof the structure of the clip element shown in FIG. 10 can be applied toother clip elements of clip IDs [“C0002] to [“C0004”] shown in FIG. 9,their description will be omitted.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the edit list table of [<editlistTablepath=“/PROAV/EDTR/”>], line 6, FIG. 8. In the edit list table shown inFIG. 11, between <editlistTable path “/PROAV/EDTR/”> tag, line 1, and</editlistTable> tag, line 18, edit lists as edit results of clipsrecorded on the optical disc 17 are described as edit list elements inthe order of which they were edited. Since the structure of the editlists shown in FIG. 11 is basically the same as the structure of clipsas elements described in the table exemplified in FIG. 9, the detaildescription will be omitted.

<editlist id=“E0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BB” file=“E0001E01.SMI” dur=“500”fps=“59.94i” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>, line 2 to line 5, FIG. 11,represents the first edit list element as an edit result of a cliprecorded on the optical disc 17. This statement represents that the editID is [“E0001”], that umid is [“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BB”], and that the file name of the edit list file is[“E0001E01.SMI”]. In addition, this statement represents that asattribute information of the edit list, the effective length of the editlist in the time direction is 500 frames, the resolution of the editlist in the time base direction is 59.94 field/sec, the reproductionmethod of the edit list is based on the interlace system, and the numberof channels of the audio data reproduced according to the edit list isfour channels, and the aspect ratio of video data reproduced accordingto the edit list is [4:3].

<editlist id=“E0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BC” file=“E0002E01.SMI” dur=“500”fps=“59.94i” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>, line 6 to line 9, represents anedit list element as an edit result of a clip after the edit list ofedit list ID [“E0001”]. This statement represents that the edit ID is[“E0002”], that umid is[“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BC”], and that the file nameof the edit list file is [“E0002E01.SMI”]. In addition, this statementrepresents that as attribute information of the edit list, the effectivelength of the edit list in the time direction is 500 frames, theresolution of the edit list in the time base direction is 59.94field/sec, the reproduction method of the edit list is based on theinterlace system, and the number of channels of the audio datareproduced according to the edit list is four channels, and the aspectratio of video data reproduced according to the edit list is [4:3].

<editlist id=“E0003” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BD” file=“E0003E01.SMI” dur=“500”fps=“59.94i” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>, line 10 to line 13, representsan edit list element as an edit result of a clip after the edit list ofedit list ID [“E0002”]. This statement represents that the edit ID is[“E0003”], that umid is[“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BD”], and that the file nameof the edit list file is [“E0003E01.SMI”]. In addition, this statementrepresents that as attribute information of the edit list, the effectivelength of the edit list in the time direction is 500 frames, theresolution of the edit list in the time base direction is 59.94field/sec, the reproduction method of the edit list is based on theinterlace system, and the number of channels of the audio datareproduced according to the edit list is four channels, and the aspectratio of video data reproduced according to the edit list is [4:3].

<editlist id=“E0004” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BE” file=“E0003E01.SMI” dur=“500”fps=“59.94i” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“16:9”>, line 14 to line 17, representsan edit list element as an edit result of a clip after the edit list ofedit list ID [“E0003”]. This statement represents that the edit ID is[“E0004”], that umid is [“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BE”], and that the file name of the edit list file is[“E0004E01.SMI”]. In addition, this statement represents that asattribute information of the edit list, the effective length of the editlist in the time direction is 500 frames, the resolution of the editlist in the time base direction is 59.94 field/sec, the reproductionmethod of the edit list is based on the interlace system, and the numberof channels of the audio data reproduced according to the edit list isfour channels, and the aspect ratio of video data reproduced accordingto the edit list is [4:3].

FIG. 12 shows an example of the structure of an edit list element ofedit list ID “E0001” of [<editlist id=“E0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BB” file=“E0001E01.SMI” dur=“500” fps=“59.94i”ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”>], line 2, FIG. 11. In the edit list elementshown in FIG. 12, between <editlist id=“E0001” umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789BB” file=“E0001E01.SMI” dur=“500”fps=“59.94i” ch=“4” aspectRatio=“4:3”> tag, line 1 to line 4, and</editlist> tag, line 7, data that compose the edit list are describedas an edit list child element.

<playlist file=“E0001P01.SMI”/>, line 5, represents an edit list childelement of the play list file that is information about the reproductionorder (play list) of essence data according to the edit list (editresult). This statement represents that the file name of the play listfile is [“E0001P01.SMI”].

<meta file=“E0001M01.XML” type=“PD-Meta”/>, line 6, represents an editlist child element of the clip meta data file of the edit list. Thisstatement represents that the file name of the clip meta data file ofthe edit list is [“E0001M01.XML”] and that the type of codec of the clipmeta data file of the edit list is [“PD-Meta”]. In this case, althoughumid is not designated to the play list file and the meta data file,umid may be designated thereto.

As described above, edit list elements composed of edit list ID, umid,information about file name conversion table for edit list file, andattribute information necessary to reproduce the edit list are describedin the edit list table of the index file in the order of which the editlist elements are edited.

The example of the structure of the edit list element of edit list ID[“E0001”] shown in FIG. 12 can be applied to edit list elements of editlist IDs of edit lists recorded on the optical disc 17. In other words,since the example of the structure of the edit list element shown inFIG. 12 can be applied to other edit list elements of edit list IDs[“E0002”] to [“E0004”] shown in FIG. 11, their description will beomitted.

Next, the clip information file of the file system of the optical disc17 will be described. As described above, the clip information filecontains management information with which each clip recorded on theoptical disc 17 is managed. To allow the clip information file to haveversatility, the clip information file is described in SMIL(Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language).in the XML format.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show an example of a code from <body> tag, which isa start tag to </body> tag, which is an end tag, of the clip informationfile 151 shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 13 shows line 1 to line 20 of the code.FIG. 14 shows line 21 to line 42 of the code. Besides the code from<body> tag to </body> tag of the clip information file 151 shown in FIG.13 and FIG. 14, the clip information file 151 contains information thatrepresents that the clip information file 151 is described in SMIL,header information that contains information about the clip meta data ofthe clip (for example, the clip meta data file 162 shown in FIG. 6), andso forth (not shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14).

<par> tag, line 2, and </par> tag, line 41, represent that essence datadescribed therebetween are reproduced in parallel. <switch> tag, line 3,and </switch> tag, line 38, represent that one type of essence datadescribed therebetween is selected and reproduced. [<!--main stream-->],line 4, is a commend tag that represents that essence data describedbetween <par systemComponent=“IMX50”> tag, line 5, to </par> tag, line33, are main line data (original video data and audio data).

[systemComponent=“IMX50”] of <par systemComponent “IMX50”> tag, line 5,represents the type of codec of video data that the photographing device14 can reproduce (or needs to reproduce). Thus, <parsystemcomponent=“IMX50”?>, line 5, represents that essence datadescribed from this tag to </par> tag, line 33, are simultaneouslyreproduced when the type of codec of video data of the essence datadescribed between these tags is [IMX50].

<video src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF” type “IMX50>describes attribute information of video data to be reproduced.[“src=“urn:smpte:umid: 060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF”] represents that video data (for example, the videodata file 152) of [“umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF 0123456789ABCDEF”] defined inSMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) are to bereproduced. [type=.“IMX50”] represents the codec type as additionalinformation necessary to reproduce video data. Thus, this statement,line 6 to line 8, represents that the video data file 152 is reproducedaccording to [IMX50].

umid (unique material identifier) is a worldwide unique identifier (ID)assigned to data to be referenced. umid (UMID) is categorized as basicUMID (32 bytes) and extended UMID (32 bytes). Basic UMID (32 bytes) is aunique ID for video data, audio data, and so forth. Extended UMIDrepresents a source pack (time, place, photographer, and so forth).Extended UMID is added to basic UMID to represent the characteristic ofpictures and to retrieve data. In this manner, in the clip informationfile, essence data are managed with umid. Thus, on the optical disc 17,it is necessary to convert umid into a file name with the index file.However, since umid has versatility, it can be used by other devices.

<audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0” type “LPCM16”trackDst=“CH1”/> describes attribute information of audio data to bereproduced. [type=“LPCM16”] represents that audio data are reproducedaccording to LPCM16. [trackDst=“CH1”] represents that this audio dataare reproduced as channel 1. Thus, this statement, line 10 to line 12,represents that audio data of [umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0] (for example, the audio data-file 153)are reproduced as channel 1 according to LPCM16.

Likewise, <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456 789ABCDEF01”type “LPCM16” trackDst “CH2”/>, line 12 to line 14, represents audiodata (for example, the audio data file 154) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D012130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF01] are reproduced as channel2 according to LPCM16. <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D1213 00000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012”type “LPCM16” trackDst=“CH3”/>, line 15 to line 17, represents audiodata (for example, the audio data file 155) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012] are reproduced as channel 3according to LPCM16. <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000 123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123”type “LPCM16” trackDst=“CH4”/>, line 18 to line 20, represents audiodata (for example, the audio data file 156) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123] are reproduced as channel 4 according toLPCM16.

In addition, <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456 789ABCDEF01234”type “LPCM16” trackDst=“CH5”/>, line 21 to line 23, represents audiodata (for example, the audio data file 157) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF01234] are reproduced aschannel 5 according to LPCM16. <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D 12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012345”type “LPCM16” trackDst=“CH6”/>, line 24 to line 26, represents audiodata (for example, the audio data file 158) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012345] are reproduced as channel 6according to LPCM16.

In addition, <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456” type “LPCM16” trackDst=“CH7”/>, line 27 to line 29,represents audio data (for example, the audio data file 159) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012345 6] arereproduced as channel 7 according to LPCM16. <audio src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF01234567” type “LPCM16”trackDst=“CH8”/>, line 30 to line 32, represents audio data (forexample, the audio data file 160) of[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF01234567] are reproduced as channel 8according to LPCM16.

[<!--sub stream-->], line 34, is a comment tag that represents thatessence data described from line 35 to line 37 are low resolution data.

<ref src=“urn:smpte:umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF012345678” type=“SubStream”systemComponent=“SubStream”/>, line 35 to line 37, describes attributeinformation of any data (in this case, low resolution data) to bereproduced. [type=“SubStream”] represents that low resolution data arereproduced according to codec SubStream. [systemComponent=“SubSystem”]represents the type of codec of low resolution data that thephotographing device 14 can reproduce (or needs to reproduce). Thus, thestatement, line 35 to line 37, represents that low resolution data (forexample, the low resolution data file 161) of[urn:smpte:umid:060A2B34011010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF012345678] are reproduced according tocodec SubStream.

[<!--realtime meta-->], line 39, is a commend tag that represents thatessence data described in line 41 is real time data.

<metastream src=“C0001R01.BIM” type=“std”/>, line 40, describesattribute information of meta data to be reproduced.[src=“C0001R01.BIM”] represents the file name of frame meta data.[type=“std”] represents that the frame data are reproduced according tocodec [std]. Thus, the statement, line 35 to line 37, represents thatframe meta data (for example, the frame meta data file 163) of file name[“C0001R01.BIM”] are reproduced according to [std].

Thus, the clip information file 151 shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14represents that the video data file 152 and the audio data files 153 to160 or the low resolution data file 161 is selected and reproduced alongwith the frame meta data file 163.

As described above, the clip information file contains additionalinformation of essence data necessary to reproduce the essence data thatcompose a clip. Thus, when the clip information file is referenced,additional information of essence data can be readily obtained asinformation necessary to reproduce the essence data without need to readthe essence data and interpret information necessary to reproduce theessence data.

In the clip information file, versatile SMIL is used. In addition,essence data that compose a clip is managed with versatile umid. Thus,the clip information file can be readily used by other devices. In thiscase, the clip information file may be used for processes that edit andreproduce essence data.

Next, with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 15, a read processfor the index file will be described. The read process for the indexfile is executed when the optical disc 17 is loaded into thephotographing device 14.

The photographing staff member loads the optical disc 17 into the drive66 to record video data and audio data that are photographed by thephotographing device 14 or to reproduce video data and audio data fromthe optical disc 17.

At step S1, the CPU 51 waits until the optical disc 17 has been loadedinto the drive 66. When the CPU 51 has determined that the optical disc17 had been loaded into the drive 66, the flow advances to step S2. Atstep S2, the CPU 51 controls the drive 66 to read the index file (forexample, the index file 134) from the optical disc 17, stores (loads)the index file to the RAM 53, and completes the read process for theindex file.

Thus, when the optical disc 17 is loaded into the drive 66 of thephotographing device 14, the index file is read from the optical disc 17and stored to the RAM 53. Thereafter, the data write process and dataread process for the optical disc 17 are executed according to the indexfile stored in the RAM 53. Thus, data recorded on the optical disc 17can be quickly accessed.

Next, with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 16, a clip generationprocess of the photographing device 14 will be described. In this case,it is assumed that the optical disc 17 has been loaded into thephotographing device 14, the read process for the index file describedwith reference to FIG. 15 has been executed, and the index file (forexample, the index file 134) has been stored in the RAM 53. Thisassumption will be applied to processes shown in FIG. 17 to FIG. 20.

The photographing staff member operates a record button that composesthe operation section 61 and causes the photographing device 14 torecord video data and audio data that it photographs to the optical disc17. The operation section 61 outputs a data record command signal to theCPU 51. When the data record command signal has been input from theoperation section 61, the CPU 51 causes the input section 62, theencoder/decoder section 56, the record control section 54, and theoptical disc 17 to start recording data to the optical disc 17. At thispoint, parameter information (information about resolution, type ofcodec, and so forth) of video data and audio data has been set by thephotographing staff member through the operation section 61 and storedin the RAM 53 (or the parameter information that had been preset in thephotographing device 14 may have been stored in the RAM 53).

The input section 62 inputs video data photographed by the camera andaudio data collected by the microphone according to a command issuedfrom the CPU 51 and supplies the video data and audio data to theencoder/decoder section 56. The encoder/decoder section 56 encodes thevideo data and audio data supplied from the input section 62 accordingto the parameter information stored in the RAM 53 and supplies theencoded video data, audio data, and low resolution data to the dataobtainment section 101.

The information obtainment section 102 of the record control section 54waits until the record start command has been issued from the CPU 51 atstep S21 shown in FIG. 16. When the information obtainment section 102has determined that the data record start command had been issued fromthe CPU 51, the flow advances to step S22. At step S22, the informationobtainment section 102 obtains the parameter information stored in theRAM 53 and supplies the parameter information to the data generationsection 103, the clip generation section 104, and the index file updatesection 105. At this point, the data obtainment section 101 supplies thevideo data, audio data, and low resolution data supplied from theencoder/decoder section 56 to the data generation section 103.

When the clip generation section 104 has input the parameter informationfrom the information obtainment section 102, the flow advances to stepS23. At step S23, the clip generation section 104 generates the clipdirectory (for example, the clip directory 141) with which video data,audio data, and low resolution data inputted to the photographing device14 are managed as clips and outputs the generated clip directory to thetable record section 107. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S24. Atstep S24, the table record section 107 records the clip directorysupplied from the clip generation section 104 to the optical disc 17through the drive 66.

At step S24, the data generation section 103 generates the header andfooter of essence data supplied from the data obtainment section 101according to the parameter information supplied from the informationobtainment section 102, generates MXF essence data files (for example,the video data file 152, the audio data files 153 to 160, and the lowresolution data file 161) composed of the generated header, footer, andbody and outputs the generated essence data files to the data recordsection 106. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S25. At step S25, thedata record section 106 records the essence data files supplied from thedata generation section 103 to the optical disc 17 through the drive 66.

At step S25, the data generation section 103 generates a frame meta datadata file (for example, the frame meta data data file 163) according tothe parameter information supplied from the information obtainmentsection 102 and the video data and audio data supplied from the dataobtainment section 101 and outputs the generated frame meta data datafile to the data record section 106. Thereafter, the flow advances tostep S26. At step S26, the data record section 106 records the framemeta data data file supplied from the data generation section 103 to theoptical disc 17 through the drive 66.

At step S26. the data generation section 103 generates a clip meta datadata file (for example, the clip meta data data file 162) according tothe parameter information supplied from the information obtainmentsection 102 and the video data and audio data supplied from the dataobtainment section 101 and outputs the generated clip meta data datafile to the data record section 106. Thereafter, the flow advances tostep S27. At step S27, the data record section 106 records the clip metadata data file supplied from the data generation section 103 to theoptical disc 17 through the drive 66.

At step S27. the data generation section 103 generates a picture pointerfile (for example, the picture pointer file 164) according to theparameter information supplied from the information obtainment section102 and the video data and audio data supplied from the data obtainmentsection 101 and outputs the generated picture pointer file to the datarecord section 106. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S28. At stepS28, the data record section 106 records the picture pointer filesupplied from the data generation section 103 to the optical disc 17through the drive 66.

At step S28, the clip generation section 104 generates a clipinformation file (for example, the clip information file 151) accordingto the parameter information supplied from the information obtainmentsection 102. Specifically, the clip generation section 104 generates aclip information file that contains attribute information (for example,[umid:060A2B340101010501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF], line 7, FIG. 13and so forth) that is described according to each type of essence datagenerated by the clip generation section 104 and with which each type ofessence data is managed and attribute information (for example,[type=“IMX50”] line 8, FIG. 13, and [type=“LPCM16” trackDst=“CH1”], line11, and so forth) that is described according to the parameterinformation supplied from the information obtainment section 102 andthat is necessary to reproduce the essence data and outputs thegenerated clip information file to the table record section 107.Thereafter, the flow advances to step S29. At step S29, the table recordsection 107 records the clip information file supplied from the clipgeneration section 104 to the optical disc 17 through the drive 66.

At step S29, the index file update section 105 executes an updateprocess for the index file to add a new clip element to the clip tableof the index file. Next, with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG.17, the update process for the index file will be described.

At step S41 shown in FIG. 17, the index file update section 105generates a clip element that describes management information such asumid of a clip and a file name (for example, [clip id=“C0001”],[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF 0123456789AA”],[file=“C0001C01.SMI”], [dur=“12001”], and so forth), line 2 to line 5,FIG. 9), with which a clip is managed, according to the clip informationfile generated by the clip generation section 104. Thereafter, the flowadvances to step S42. At step S42, the index file update section 105describes attribute information (for example, [fps “59.94i”], [ch=“4”],[aspectRatio=“4:3”], and so forth) that is necessary to reproduce a clipto the clip element generated according to the parameter informationsupplied from the information obtainment section 102. Thereafter, theflow advances to step S43. Since [dur=] is generated according to thegenerated clip information file 151, for convenience of description,[dur=] is contained in management information with which a clip ismanaged. Instead, [dur=] may be contained in attribute information thatis necessary to reproduce a clip.

At step S43, the index file update section 105 generates a clip childelement that describes management information such as umid of essencedata contained in a clip and a file name (for example,[umid=“0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789A1”] and[file=“C0001V01.MXF”], line 3 and line 4, FIG. 10) with which a clip ismanaged in a clip element according to the clip information file.Thereafter, the flow advances to step S44. At step S44, the index fileupdate section 105 describes attribute information (for example,[type=“DV25_(—)411P”], line 4, FIG. 10) that is necessary to reproduceeach type of essence data in the generated clip child element accordingto the parameter information supplied from the information obtainmentsection 102. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S45.

At step S45, the index file update section 105 adds (registers) thegenerated clip element (containing the clip child element) to the cliptable of the index file stored in the RAM 53, updates the index file,and outputs the updated index file to the table record section 107. Atthis point, the index file update section 105 registers the generatedclip element to the last clip element registered in the clip table. Thetable record section 107 records the index file supplied from the indexfile update section 105 to the optical disc 17 through the drive 66,returns to FIG. 16, and completes the clip generation process.

As described above, since attribute information necessary to reproduceessence data is described in the index file and the clip informationfile, when data are reproduced from the optical disc 17, attributeinformation necessary to reproduce essence data can be obtainedaccording to the index file or the clip information file. Thus, sinceattribute information does not need to be read from essence data, theprocess time for the reproduction is shortened.

In addition, attribute information necessary to reproduce essence datais managed with both the index file and the clip information file. Thus,the process time for the reproduction is shortened with reference to theindex file on the optical disc. In addition, other devices can use theclip information file, which is versatile.

Next, with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 18, a clipreproduction process of the photographing device 14 will be described.In FIG. 18, the case of which a clip is reproduced according to the clipinformation file will be described.

The photographing staff member operates a button or the like of theoperation section 61 to check photographed clips and causes thephotographing device 14 to reproduce his or her desired clip. As aresult, the operation section 61 outputs a clip reproduction commandsignal to the CPU 51. When the CPU 51 has input the clip reproductioncommand signal through the operation section 61, the CPU 51 causes thereproduction control section 55 to start reproducing the clip from theoptical disc 17.

At step S101 shown in FIG. 18, the clip reproduction section 111 waitsuntil the clip reproduction start command has been issued from the CPU51. When the clip reproduction section 111 has determined that the clipreproduction start command had been issued from the CPU 51, the flowadvances to step S102. At step S102, the clip reproduction section 111controls the clip information obtainment section 114 to read adesignated clip information file (for example, the clip information file151) from the optical disc 17, through the drive 66. The clipinformation obtainment section 114 stores (loads) the clip informationfile to the RAM 53. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S103.

At step S103, the clip reproduction section 111 controls the clipinformation obtainment section 114 to obtain umid (for example, [umid:060A2B3401010 10501010D12130000000123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF], line7, FIG. 13) and attribute information (for example, [type=“IMX50”, line8, FIG. 13, [type=“LPCM16” trackDst=“CH1”, line 11, and so forth) ofessence data to be reproduced from the clip information file stored inthe RAM 53. The clip reproduction section 111 controls the index fileinformation obtainment section 113 to obtain the file name (for example,[file=“C0001V01.MXF”) corresponding to the obtained umid from the cliptable of the index file stored in the RAM 53. Thereafter, the flowadvances to step S104.

At step S104, the clip reproduction section 111 controls the drive 66,the encoder/decoder section 56, and the output section 63 to reproduceessence data from the optical disc 17 according to the attributeinformation and the file name obtained by the clip informationobtainment section 114 and completes the clip reproduction process.Specifically, the drive 66 reads essence data according to the file nameunder the control of the clip reproduction section 111 and supplies theessence data to the encoder/decoder section 56. The encoder/decodersection 56 decodes the essence data according to the attributeinformation supplied from the clip reproduction section 111 and outputsthe decoded data to the monitor and speaker that compose the outputsection 63.

As described above, since attribute information necessary to reproduceessence data can be obtained from a clip information file, it is notnecessary to obtain necessary information for the reproduction fromessence data. Thus, the process time is shortened.

Next, with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 19, a clipreproduction process that reproduces a clip according to the index filewill be described. Since the process at step S121 shown in FIG. 19 isbasically the same as the process at step S101 shown in FIG. 18, thedescription will be omitted.

At step S121 shown in FIG. 19, the clip reproduction section 111 waitsuntil a clip reproduction start command has been issued from the CPU 51.When the clip reproduction section 111 has determined that the clipreproduction start command had been issued from the CPU 51, the flowadvances to step S122. At step S122, the clip reproduction section 111controls the index file information obtainment section 113 to obtain aclip element to be reproduced from the clip table of the index file (forexample, the index file 134) stored in the RAM 53. The index fileinformation obtainment section 113 obtains the file name (for example,[file=“C0001V01.MXF”], line 4, FIG. 10) of essence data to be reproducedfrom the obtained clip element and attribute information (for example,[type=“DV25_(—)411P”], line 4, FIG. 10) necessary to reproduce theessence data. Thereafter, the flow advances to step S123.

At step S123, the clip reproduction section 111 controls the drive 66,the encoder/decoder section 56, and the output section 63 to reproduceessence data from the optical disc 17 according to the attributeinformation and the file name obtained from the index file informationobtainment section 113 and completes the clip reproduction process.Specifically, the drive 66 reads essence data from the optical disc 17according to the file name under the control of the clip reproductionsection 111 and supplies the essence data to the encoder/decoder section56. The encoder/decoder section 56 decodes the essence data according tothe attribute information supplied from the clip reproduction section111 and outputs the decoded data to the monitor and speaker that composethe output section.

As described above, since attribute information necessary to reproduceessence data can be obtained from the index file, it is not necessary toread essence data and clip information file from the optical disc 17 andto interpret them. Thus, the process time can be more shortened than thereproduction process shown in FIG. 18.

When a clip is reproduced according to the index file, the read time forthe clip information file is shortened. When all clips are continuouslyreproduced from the optical disc 17, it can be expected that the processtime is more shortened in the following case.

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a tape reproductionprocess of the photographing device 14 will be described.

The photographing staff member operates a button or the like of theoperation section 61 to check all clips that he or she have photographedand to cause the photographing device 14 to performs the tapereproduction process. When the photographing device 14 uses a tape as arecord medium and reproduces data therefrom, the data are successivelyreproduced in the order of which they were recorded. The tapereproduction process is a successive clip reproduction process thatsuccessively reproduces all clips from the optical disc 17 as if datawere reproduced from the tape.

The operation section 61 outputs a tape reproduction command signal tothe CPU 51. When the CPU 51 has input the tape reproduction commandsignal through the operation section 61, the CPU 51 causes thereproduction control section 55 to start the tape reproduction for theoptical disc 17.

At step S151 shown in FIG. 20, the tape reproduction section 112 waitsuntil the tape reproduction command has been issued from the CPU 51.When the tape reproduction section 112 has determined that the tapereproduction start command had been issued from the CPU 51, the flowadvances to step S152. At step S152, the tape reproduction section 112controls the index file information obtainment section 113 to obtain afirst clip element from the clip table of the index file (for example,the index file 134) stored in the RAM 53. The tape reproduction section112 obtains the file name (for example, [file=“C0001V01.MXF”], line 4,FIG. 10) of essence data to be reproduced and attribute information (forexample, [type=“DV25_(—)411P], line 4, FIG. 10) necessary to reproducethe essence data from the obtained clip element. Thereafter, the flowadvances to step S153.

At step S153, the tape reproduction section 112 controls the drive 66,the encoder/decoder section 56, and the output section 63 to reproduceessence data from the optical disc 17 according to the obtainedattribute information and file name. Specifically, the drive 66 readsessence data from the optical disc 17 according to the file name underthe control of the tape reproduction section 112 and supplies theessence data to the encoder/decoder section 56. The encoder/decodersection 56 decodes the essence data according to the attributeinformation supplied from the tape reproduction section 112 and outputsthe decoded data to the monitor and speaker that compose the outputsection 63.

When the tape reproduction section 112 has completed the clipreproduction process at step S153, the flow advances to step S154. Atstep S154, the tape reproduction section 112 determines whether thereproduction process for all clip elements of the clip table of theindex file have been completed according to information supplied fromthe index file information obtainment section 113. When the tapereproduction section 112 has determined that the clip table of the indexfile has a clip element that had not been reproduced, the flow returnsto step S152. At step S152, the tape reproduction section 112 controlsthe index file information obtainment section 113 to obtain the nextclip element from the clip table of the index file stored in the RAM 53and repeats the process from the next step.

When the tape reproduction section 112 has determined that thereproduction process for all clip elements of the clip table of theindex file had been completed, the tape reproduction section 112completes the tape reproduction process.

As described above, since a clip is reproduced with reference to theindex file, it is not necessary to read essence data or the clipinformation file for attribute information necessary to reproduce theclip. Thus, the read time is shortened. When the reproduction is changedfrom one clip to the next clip, occurrence of a time lag can besuppressed.

In the tape reproduction shown in FIG. 20, the case of which clips arereproduced with reference to the index file was described. Of course,clips may be reproduced according to the clip information files. In thiscase, since umid needs to be converted in the index file, it takes atime. Thus, when data are reproduced from an optical disc, it ispreferred that the index file be used.

As described above, attribute information necessary to reproduce essencedata is managed with both the index file and the clip information file.On an optical disc, the index file is referenced with which thereproduction process can be more quickly performed than the clipinformation file to shorten the reproduction process time. When otherdevices are used, the clip information file that is versatile is used.The other devices may use the clip information file for processes thatreproduce and edit essence data.

In the foregoing example, the case of which video data, audio data, lowresolution data, frame meta data, clip meta data, edit list, and soforth are recorded on an optical disc was described. As a record mediumon which these types of data are recorded, besides the optical disc, anoptical-magnetic disc, a magnetic disc such as a flexible disc or a harddisk, a magnetic tape, or a semiconductor memory such as a flash memorymay be used.

In the foregoing example, the case of which the photographing device 14records and reproduces a clip was described. However, the informationprocess apparatus that records and reproduce a clip may be other thanthe photographing device 14. For example, the information processapparatus may be the planning terminal device 11, the field PC 15, orthe editing terminal device 16 shown in FIG. 1. Instead, the informationprocess apparatus may be other than these devices.

As described above, in the information process apparatus according tothe present invention, reproduction information necessary to reproducedata is obtained when the data are recorded. A first management filewith which the data are managed for each piece thereof is generated, thefirst management file describing the reproduction information and anidentifier that uniquely identifies the data. Management information ofthe data composed of the reproduction information, the identifier of thedata, and information that represents the recorded position of the dataare registered to a second management file with which the data recordedon the record medium are totally managed. As long as these processes areperformed, they may be preformed in any methods. In addition, anotherprocess may be performed along with these processes. The structure ofthe information process apparatus according to the present invention maybe other than the structure shown in FIG. 2 as long as these processescan be executed.

The foregoing sequence of processes may be executed by hardware. Asdescribed above, these processes may be executed by software. When thesequence of processes are executed by software, the software isinstalled from a record medium or the like to a computer that hashardware in which a program that composes the software has beeninstalled or a general-purpose personal computer that can installvarious types of programs and execute corresponding functions.

As shown in FIG. 2, the record medium is unaccompanied by thephotographing device 14. The record medium is delivered to the user toprovide the program. The record medium on which the program has beenrecorded is provided as a magnetic disc (including a flexible disc), anoptical disc (including CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVD(Digital Versatile Disc), an optical-magnetic disc (including MD(Mini-Disc)®), or the removable media 71 including a package mediumcomposed of a semiconductor memory or the like. Instead, a computer inwhich the ROM 52 and the hard disk, including the storage section 63,that store the program has been installed may be provided to the user.

In this specification, steps that describe a program provided by amedium are executed sequentially in the order of which they aredescribed. Instead, the steps may be executed in parallel or discretely.

In this specification, the system represents a whole apparatus composedof a plurality of devices.

As described above, according to the present invention, data can besmoothly reproduced. In addition, according to the present invention, aplurality of pieces of data can be successively and smoothly reproduced.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. An information process apparatus that manages datarecoded on a record medium, comprising: information obtainment means forobtaining reproduction information necessary to reproduce the data whenthe data are recorded; generation means for generating a firstmanagement file with which data that compose each clip that is apredetermined structural unit of data are managed, the first managementfile describing the reproduction information of data that compose theclip and an identifier that uniquely identifies data that compose theclip; registration means for registering management information of theclip composed of the reproduction information of data that compose theclip, the identifier of data that compose the clip, and information thatrepresents the recoded position of data that compose the clip to asecond management file with which clips recorded on the record mediumare totally managed; and successive reproduction means for successivelyreproducing data that compose all the clips recorded on the recordmedium according to the first management file or the second managementfile, wherein when the record medium is loaded, the second managementfile is read from the record medium and stored to a memory and when aclip to be reproduced is designated, the first management file is readfrom the record medium and stored to the memory.
 9. The informationprocess apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein the registrationmeans registers the management information of the clip to the last endof the second management file.
 10. The information process apparatus asset forth in claim 8, further comprising: reproduction means forreproducing data that compose the clip according to the first managementfile or the second management file.
 11. An information process method ofmanaging data recoded on a record medium, comprising the steps of:obtaining reproduction information necessary to reproduce the data whenthe data are recorded; generating a first management file with whichdata that compose each clip that is a predetermined structural unit ofdata are managed, the first management file describing the reproductioninformation of data that compose the clip and an identifier thatuniquely identifies data that compose the clip; registering managementinformation of the clip composed of the reproduction information of datathat compose the clip, the identifier of data that compose the clip, andinformation that represents the recoded position of data that composethe clip to a second management file with which clips recorded on therecord medium are totally managed; and successively reproducing datathat compose all the clips recorded on the record medium according tothe first management file or the second management file, wherein whenthe record medium is loaded, the second management file is read from therecord medium and stored to a memory and when a clip to be reproduced isdesignated, the first management file is read from the record medium andstored to the memory.
 12. A program record medium on which a computerreadable program is recorded, the program causing a computer to performan information process that manages data recoded on a record medium, theprogram comprising the steps of: obtaining reproduction informationnecessary to reproduce the data when the data are recorded; generating afirst management file with which data that compose each clip that is apredetermined structural unit of data are managed, the first managementfile describing the reproduction information of data that compose theclip and an identifier that uniquely identifies data that compose theclip; registering management information of the clip composed of thereproduction information of data that compose the clip, the identifierof data that compose the clip, and information that represents therecoded position of data that compose the clip to a second managementfile with which clips recorded on the record medium are totally managed;and successively reproducing data that compose all the clips recorded onthe record medium according to the first management file or the secondmanagement file.
 13. A program that causes a computer to perform aninformation process that manages data recoded on a record medium, theprogram comprising the steps of: obtaining reproduction informationnecessary to reproduce the data when the data are recorded; generating afirst management file with which data that compose each clip that is apredetermined structural unit of data are managed, the first managementfile describing the reproduction information of data that compose theclip and an identifier that uniquely identifies data that compose theclip; registering management information of the clip composed of thereproduction information of data that compose the clip, the identifierof data that compose the clip, and information that represents therecoded position of data that compose the clip to a second managementfile with which clips recorded on the record medium are totally managed;and successively reproducing data that compose all the clips recorded onthe record medium according to the first management file or the secondmanagement file.